There is
little pleasure in watching the ever increasing
prices of both wines and dining out. It may be
of some little comfort, however, to know that
however much we have to spend in the name of our
pleasure, others have spent considerably
more.

The highest
price ever paid for a pig was $150,000. The pig
in question, whose name was Myrna, had a special
talent for hunting truffles. Her owner, Jean
Argenteuil, who lived in the city of Nimes in
Provence, once claimed that she was "the dearest
and most beautiful animal in the world".
Considering that Myrna located more than 10
kilos of truffles every year and that the price
of truffles is about $1500 per kilo, Argenteuil
felt fully justified in spending more than
$1,000 per year for her life insurance policy.
Myrna lived to the ripe old age of 15. Two weeks
after her death, the insurance company honored
their policy and hand-delivered a check for
750,000 Francs to her bereaved owner.

The highest
price ever paid for a single kitchen pot was
probably 25,500 pounds Sterling. Made entirely
out of copper, the pot weighs 75 kilos and has a
capacity of 250 liters. What makes the pot
special is that it came from the kitchens of
France's King Louis IV. The pot was bought by
Donald Trump who donated it to the Metropolitan
Museum of New York.

The highest
price paid to date for a single bottle of wine
was $265,000. The wine was a bottle of 1789
Chateau Margaux that had survived from the
private collection of Thomas Jefferson and was
auctioned at Christie's in London in
1989.

The highest
price ever paid for a teaspoon was $5,000. The
spoon, made of Sterling silver, belonged
originally to Marie Antoinette, who carried it
in a special pocket in her dress and used it to
stir the sugar into her tea.

The highest
price ever paid for a lamb chop was probably
$150,000. The chop itself (including the mashed
potatoes accompaniment) cost only $2.50.
However, in 1977, when the person eating it
choked on the bone and died, the court ordered
the owner of the restaurant (The Airport Diner,
in Newark, New Jersey) to pay damages to the
estate of the deceased.

The highest
price ever paid for a bowl of tomato soup was
$100,000. In 1947, when multi-millionaire Howard
Hughes was traveling incognito through Texas, he
entered a diner, told the owner that he had no
money, and asked if he could have something to
eat. The owner gave Hughes a large bowl of soup.
Two weeks later, one of Hughes' attorneys showed
up at the diner, told the owner what had
happened and presented him with a certified
check from Hughes. Years later the owner
recalled that the soup had not really been that
expensive. "After all," he said, "I gave him
four slices of rye bread with his
soup".

(EDITOR'S
NOTE: After Mark's article on escalating wine
prices, this e-letter came from Daniel Rogov,
food and wine writer, who kindly gave us
permission to reprint it here. He prefers to
be called Rogov and his columns,
Rogov's
Ramblings,
may be regularly found on The Winelover's
Page.)